Congress rubbishes BJP’s growth figures for Assam

Guwahati, (IANS) Attacking the BJP-led government over the upcoming GIS, the Congress in Assam on Thursday said that during its 15-year rule the party had brought in close to Rs 20,000 crore of investment to the state.

Former state Industry Minister Pradyut Bordoloi said: “The BJP government has been highlighting in all the commercials and advertisements prepared for the Global Investment Summit that Assam’s GDP growth rate has reached 13 per cent.

“However, the state’s GDP is growing at four per cent only,” Bordoloi said.

He added that the “insurgency ravaged state” had witnessed investment of Rs 19,890 crore from 2007 to 2015, when his party was in power. The Congress was in power in Assam for three terms, from 2001 to 2016.

“The BJP-led government often claims that Rs 7,000 crore of investment followed in the state ever since they assumed power in Assam.

“That is not true. The Rs 7,000 crore that the government talks of are actually from industries like Dabur, Sun Pharma, Emami, Hindustan Uniliver, Star Cement, Topcem Cements etc who had started production from 2007…,” said Bordoloi.

“I have challenged Industry Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary to make public the Industrial Entrepreneurs Memorandums (IEMs) registered in Assam in 2017, which will make it clear.

However, Patowary has failed to make the IEMs public so far, Bordoloi said.

The Congress leader said that the industrial growth that took place in Assam from 2007 showed a descending trend in 2015 after Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP government took charge at the Centre.

“It intentionally stopped all incentives and discounts announced for the Northeastern region for industrial growth,” Bordoloi said.

“The BJP government at the Centre has stopped the North East Investment and Industrial Promotion Policy (NEIIPP) soon after it assumed power at the Centre, which affected the industrial growth and the environment created for industry in Assam after 2015,” he said.

Taking a potshot at the BJP government’s announcements for a reimbursement scheme under the GST regime, Bordoloi said while the former Congress government had given 200 per cent tax benefits to small traders under VAT, the BJP has given 200 per cent tax benefits to the large industries while reducing the benefits for small traders to 100 per cent.